Self-rimming lavatory



Dec. 19, '1967 K. BOSLER 3,358,296

SELF-RIMMING LAVATORY Filed Oct. 24, 1965 [RI/671%,! X71 22 Basie? United States Patent 3,358,296 SELF-RIMMING LAVATORY Krell Bosler, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 504,596 5 Claims. (Cl. 4187) This invention relates to an improved lavatory, and more particularly, to an improved self-rimming countertop lavoratory.

When a lavatory is mounted in a countertop, it is highly desirable to provide a sealant between the rim thereof and the countertop. However, existing types of lavatories are provided with rims that terminate generally in a peripheral plane which is parallel and in contact with the countertop. Under these circumstances, if a sealant is provided between the countertop and the lavatory rim, the weight of the lavatory rim will tend to force the sealant from between the countertop and the rim. In the alternative, if a sealant is provided which will more nearly tend to support the lavatory, it will have to be hard and thereby will tend to be brittle and subject to crackling with age and will, therefore, not be satisfactory over long periods of time.

Also, the peripheral plane of the lavatory, which may be adapted to engage the sealant and countertop, will not necessarily be complemental with the plane of the countertop. Therefore, there will often be a slight irregular space between the rim of the lavatory and the countertop with the result that the lavatory will not seat squarely on the countertop. Consequently, there will often be a tendency for the lavatory to rock or pivot on any irregularities existing between the lavatory and the countertop due to the weight of the lavatory or other forces applied thereto during use. Another approach to the mounting of the countertop lavatory to the countertop, is to provide a separate sealing rim between the rim of the bowl and the countertop. However, this results in additional apparatus with added expense as well as added seams that provide a cleaning problem.

It is, therefore, highly desirable to provide an improved countertop lavatory which is self-rimming which can be effectively sealed with respect to the countertop and, therefore, does not require additional elaborate sealing apparatus.

Further, it would be desirable to provide an improved self-rimming lavatory which will always support itself on the countertop in the stable manner, and which will so support itself independently with respect to the sealant.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide an improved countertop lavatory which is selfrimming and which is more effectively scalable.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved countertop lavatory which will support itself on the countertop in a stable condition.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide an improved countertop lavatory which will support itself on a countertop independently of sealant applied between the lavatory and the countertop.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved countertop lavatory, which will support itself on the countertop with a rim thereof positioned at a fixed predetermined distance above the countertop to accommodate a sealant therebetween.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention provides an improved countertop lavatory, which is provided with a bowl that is adapted to be recessed in the countertop, with a rim extending from the bowl over the countertop and lugs extending downwardly from the rim into engagement with the countertop to provide stable support of said lavatory on said countertop with the rim ice thereof positioned at a fixed distance above the countertop to accommodate a sealant.

Other objects, advantages and novel aspects of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the accompany drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the improved lavatory of this invention recessed in a countertop; and

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 showing the self-rimming and lug supporting structure of the improved lavatory of this invention.

Referring to the drawings, the improved lavatory invention 'is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the lavatory is generally designated by the numeral 10. The lavtory 10 is recessed in an opening 11 in a countertop 12, and is generally provided with a bowl 13 extending through the recess 11 and a rim 14 extending laterally from the bowl 13 over the countertop 12. The rim 14 in this illustration of the invention is provided with a self-rimming portion 15 which has an inner vertical section 16, a lateral section 17, and a downwardly extending peripheral portion 18 terminating in an end surface 19.

Lugs 20 are provided on the underside of the rim 14 as a part thereof, extending downwardly toward the countertop 12 beyond the surface 19, and terminating in a surface 21, so that when the lavatory 16 is positioned within the recess 11, the surface 21 will engage the countertop 12 to completely support the lavatory 10 thereon with the surface 19 spaced from the countertop 12 a distance sufficient to accommodate a sealant 22 between the surface 19 and the countertop 12.

The most desirable distance between the surface 19 and the countertop 12 for the sealant 22, was found by the inventor to be on the order of four hundreths of an inch. However, it is to be understood that this distance can be varied by the length of the lugs 20 between the lateral section 17 and the lug surface 21 to a distance which is most appropriate for the particular sealant to be utilized on a particular installation. Also, the lugs 20 are provided with downwardly extending portions 23 that are separated from the surface 21 by a recess 24. The projections 23 aid in accurately guiding the lavatory into position in the opening 11. The recess 24 provides a clearance between lugs 20 and the upper corner of the opening 11 to allow the lavatory to seat properly in the opening 11 in the countertop 12.

It should be noted that the lugs 20 extend from beneath the rim 14 and provide a structure for supporting the full weight of the lavatory on the countertop independently of the sealant 22. Further, by providing three lugs 20, the lavatory will be supported on the countertop in a stable manner regardless of slight irregularities in the plane of the countertop 12 or the lavatory rim 14. Also, it should be noted that the lugs 20 in conjunction with the rimming portion 15 of the lavatory, act to position the surface 19 on the periphery of the lavatory rim 14 a predetermined distance from the countertop 12 as determined by the length of the lugs 20 in the direction of the countertop 12.

Thus, a predetermined distance is provided between the surface 19 and the countertop 12 to receive a sealant 22, which does not in any way provide the support for the lavatory and, therefore, will not be adversely affected by the weight of the lavatory. The sealant 22, therefore, acts purely as a sealant and can be specifically designed for this purpose and this purpose alone without having to provide supporting characteristics as well. Under these circumstances, the sealant can be designed to be most effective for sealing purposes, and will not be deformed or otherwise destroyed by the weight of the lavatory.

Although this invention is described with relation to a bathroom-type lavatory, it is to be understood that this invention could also be used on kitchen sinks, laundry 3 trays, slops sinks, and other similar plumbing items. Further, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, as it will be understood to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved. countertop lavatory comprising a bowl adapted to be recessed in the gountertop, a rim secured to said bowl and extending outwardly from said bowl over the countertop, and lugs secured to said rim and extending downwardly into engagement with the countertop for supporting said lavatory on the countertop with said rim positioned a predetermined distance from the countertop for receiving a sealant between said rim and the countertop.

2. An improved countertop lavatory as defined in claim 1 wherein said rim is provided with a peripheral flange extending toward the countertop and substantially terminating in a plane surface at a predetermined distance from the countertop as determined by the length of said lugs for receiving the sealant between said flange plane surface and the countertop.

3. An improved countertop lavatory as defined in claim 2 wherein said lugs are three in number and are positioned apart around said rim between said bowl and said flange plane surface.

4. An improved countertop lavatory as defined in claim 2 wherein said lugs are provided with projections extending from said rim beyond the supporting engagement surface of said lugs into the countertop recess to guide and position said lavatory in the recess.

5. An improved countertop lavatory as defined in claim 4 wherein said lugs are provided with a recess between the supporting engagement surface and the projections thereof for isolating, the supporting surface from said projections and the edge of the recess opening in the countertop to prevent engagement of said lugs with the recess opening edge.

References Cited OTHER REFERENCES Lyoncraft Publication, pages and 36 of theAugust 1957 edition of Domestic Engineering. (Copy in 4187A; Group 363.)

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner..

H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN IMPROVED COUNTERTOP LAVATORY COMPRISING A BOWL ADAPTED TO BE RECESSED IN THE COUNTERTOP, A RIM SECURED TO SAID BOWL AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BOWL OVER THE COUNTERTOP, AND LUGS SECURED TO SAID RIM AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COUNTERTOP FOR SUPPORTING SAID LAVATORY ON THE COUNTERTOP WITH SAID RIM POSITIONED A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM THE COUNTERTOP FOR RECEIVING A SEALANT BETWEEN SAID RIM AND THE COUNTERTOP. 